Sarah Thomas to Become First Female NFL Official

Sarah Thomas is set to become the first full time NFL official according to a Baltimore Sun report.

Thomas has previously been a line judge for NCAA Football in The Conference USA and was also the first female to officiate in a bowl game. She is currently in the NFL’s officiating development program and officiated a pre-season game last season.

Sarah told NFL Network “being a former basketball player, you saw female officiating all the time. So, no, I don’t feel like a pioneer.” Despite her feelings this is an achievement for herself and on behalf of the NFL which has seemed to have a very serious problem in regards to women and the handling of multiple domestic abuse cases by NFL players ranging from Greg Hardy and Ray Rice.

Sarah has been officiating football since 1996 and, while she may not have set out to break down barriers, she is still accomplishing a significant feat for something she cares about. She told ESPNW “the thing is, I’ve never set out to be the first and that hasn’t changed… I do this because I love it.”